Reciprocating worktable for band saws with means for retracting the table from the cutting plane after each cutting stroke



.ation oa matti Patented July 20, 1948 T .QFFICE :2,445,676 nnomngonrm lWORKTABLE FOR B AND SAWS y'VVITI'IT'`MEANS FOR RETRACTING THE TABLE FROM THE CUTTING PLANE EACHCU-TTING STRQKE Los Angelesgalif.

Noyenzber 19, l19l5, VSerial No.-629,v3f15 (ci. 14s-88:)

l 1 3 Claims My invention relates i to band saws, and `has .particular .reference :to a work suppprting `table .orcarriage by. whicha work' piece maybemovecl vtoys/ard and laway from `the band oflthe saw.

In band saw' 4'operations it isia common .practice toernploy a Work table atleast a portion Lof which is mounted .upon rollers toccmprise a work,sup. vporting .carriageby which :tliework piece may be moved' toward thebandsaw yfor. a cutting op.-

eratiomand then Abe. retractedtor mak-ing aseoond cut. Such workf-tables are -usdlespecially :in connection with` band saws employed 4for the .cutting off'meats wherein a chunk `of `vmeatto 'be cut into a, number .of pieces .or-slices, .issiipported .by the operator upon a n'iova'b'le worksupporti-ng .carriage .which -is :moved tolward .thelband saw to make one cut. -.rUlJ'0n retractienlof the work supporting carriage-` and the pieceomeatgremain.- ing thereon, `it frequently occurs .that the; meat .will strike the sawfupon such a return' movement, J

tending to displaceithe 'saw .ibladeafrom its guides,

V'but Ywhat is more important, there :is a tendency Vfor the .piece .of meat-upon which the operatorie :holding his hand, to with the Ldalgigerous possibility of accidentally vmovin-g .the hand'nf 'the operato-r into .contact Lwitli the saw-blade.

` Itis therefore an object of myinventionto pre- .vide a band fsawfconstruotionin :which arnet/able work supporting tableis mounted for reciprocating motion .toward and Aipast 5a .sawiblacld "and which, v.upon -ret-ractiye movement 4to position the parts ready forgasecondcuathe i Work table will shift laterally with .inspect tothe saw blade vto provide an adequate lspace .between the" werk piece and the saw pladetoavoid the .danger =of Ainazii/ erteilt contacttherebetween;

Another .object of :my inyention is to prox/'idea Wol-ls: supporting V.carriage.'for. 4band .saws lof Vthe .character .f describm, Vmnerein movement of the carzriase in one )direction .isperm-itted with` the carriage in ...Close .lateralyjuxtaposition .with 1re- ',snect to the sawnlade, butmhicnupon .the init-i..

moviemantattilecarriageeus :the .carriage laterally :aw-ay vthe .blade and; maintanzis.v tnecarriage tomatically .-s f

in laterally spaced relation ...during .tneentire reactyemoyement.

.Anaihsr object-efy mmm/.entita toter-mide awerk suppontnecarriaee orten .saivsnfi-tne .character set iforth, 'in-w hesliitingeoi .the

work table latetaily, .resultsautomatioail nom .tllefexettion G aime ter-asias tos ayt stable awkwardly.. respeta-izo@ a .in which yemeataf examenes-.n

direction required formakng of the cut, Wiliamtornaticaliy restore the carriage to :itsiose lateral relationkwitn respect. tok the say/.blade other .Objects o f my invention will beappareni ,from a study .oi therfolowinssnec' .in 4oo ririecto.r1 with the accomnanylns drawings wherein;

,'Eig. 1 isa front elevatiQnal lView ofthe band saw assembly embodying the principles of my invention;

Fig. 12 is a top pian View cfa portion ofthe vband saw assembly .Shown in Eisl, portions of the Work supporting table being .broken Ymay .to permit :viewingf the track ant-l carriage monate ins employed;

'.Fie. 3 is a fragmentary vvert-ical .sectional .view taken alonethe. line 'I I-.Illof Merz s and Eig. lis a fragmentary top plan View similar to Fig-2, butillustrating'the position of the work supporting table .during the reactive movcinsnt thereof.

Referring to. .the drawings, I have illustrated a bandsawassernbly .comprising a suitable frame l' for supporting a pair 0f spaced pulleys? ands .over which is trained anendlessband saw blade d.' Ihe vband saw bladev 4 iis enclosed through- Qutthe major portion of its lengthby .the frame l, a Short portion of the blade being exposed as indicated at .5 immediately above a Work table indicated generallyat. `"Elie Work-tablet c om- .prises astationary portionxed toi' the Aframe l of the sau/assembly, While another portion/B `of the Work table is constructed as a supporting plate` mounted upon a plurality vof wheels 9 engaginga pair ,of `spaced tracksfl and H ex.-

'.ing a substantially nat plate l2 of :rectangular 'shape having ia pair of shafts `Iii andi IA extending .transversely immediately beloW the plate'one of theshafts I3 beingdisposed adjacent tlie'rear- Ward end of the plate I2 While the other shaft .I4

is disposed adjacent the forward enel of the'pl'ate Aas the plate 4is viewed from theV front of the 'frame -I of the saw assembly.V Each of the'shafts' is supportedbeneath the plate l2 by apair of Ibear.- .ingmembers i5 which may he ofany suitable ...const-ruction, though I .prefer tovemploy a pair relation to each other lengthwise of the frame I Y of the saw assembly.

The wheels I6 are preferably grooved wheels into the grooves of which the track members I1 and I1' will seat to hold the table 8 against inadverent lateral displacement relative to the stationary portion 1 of the work table of theSBlW,

assembly.

With the construction thus far described, the side edge I8 of the movable work table 8 is disposed in close lateral relation with the edge I9 of the stationary work table 1, so that the edge I8 of the movable work table may be moved toward the toothed edge of the saw blade and will be guided by the wheels and tracks to move a work piece toward and past the saw blade to make a cut therethrough.

Upon retracting the work table 8 to restore the carriage to a forward position ready for the making of a subsequent cut, the work piece which has been supported upon the work table 8, will be drawn back past the saw blade 4, and in order to avoid the possibility of the Work piece inadvertently striking the saw blade during this backward or retractive movement, I provide a mechanism for automatically shifting the work table to the left as viewed in the drawings, to widen the space between the edge I8 of the movable work table and the side of the saw blade 4.

This may be readily accomplished vby mounting the wheels I6 and I6 for lateral shifting movement upon the shafts I3 and I4 as by loosely mounting the wheels upon the shaft and providing a length of shaft extending beyond the right-hand wheels I6. The shafts are normally urged to the left with respect to the wheels I t and I6' by means of a spring 2| surrounding the extending end 20 of the shaft, requiring the compression of the spring when the shaft 20 is to be shifted from its normal position shown in Fig. 2 to a left-hand position as shown in Fig. 4.

To accomplish the lateral shifting of the carriage 8, I provide a lever 22 pivoted as at 23 upon a suitable supporting bracket 24 preferably mounted upon the angle iron bearing member I5, the lever 22 being normally disposed in an acute angle to the track member I1 with its free end engageable with and slidable along a portion of the track I1, or upon a wear strip 29 secured upon the inner side of the track member I1. The free end of the lever 22 should engage the track I1 forwardly of the pivot point 23 as viewed by an operator standing in front of the machine, so that during a rearward movement of the carriage-while performing a cutting operation, the free end of the lever 22 will freely slide along the track I1 without exerting any substantial lateral force upon the carriage.

However, as the carriage is drawn forwardly, that is, in a returning movement toward the operator, the free end of the lever 22 will so frictionally engage the track I1 or wear strip 29 as to be pivoted upon the pivot 23, tending to swing the lever 22 to a position at right angles to the 4 track I1, as indicated in Fig. 4. When this occurs, a force will be exerted by the lever 22, positively shifting the carriage 8 laterally away from the plane of movement of the saw blade 5, the springs 2I on the shafts I3 and I4 being cornpressed to permit lateral shifting of the carriage while the wheels I6 and I6 remain in 'engagement with their respective tracks I1 and I1'.

Thus, upon the return movement of the carriage, a piece of meat or other work piece which has been held by the operator upon the carriage duringl the'cutting operati-on, will be shifted laterally with 'the carriage to provide a substantial space between the edge of the work piece and the plane of movement of the saw blade, and positively preventing any inadvertent contact betweenV the work piece and the saw blade during this return movement. To insure that both ends of the carriage will be shifted laterally an equal amount, it is advisable to provide a second lever 22 pivoted at 23 on a bracket 24' located immediately adjacent the shaft I4. The second lever 22 may then be interconnected by means of a link 25 with the Vlever 22, so that as the lever 22 shifts its position, the lever 22' will also be shifted and a two-point lateral thrust will be exerted Yon the carriage, positively holding both ends of the carriage in laterally spaced relation to the plane of movement of the saw blade.

In order to insure the exertionof a sufficient amount of friction between the free ends of the levers 22 and 22 and the track I1, to cause the levers to shift their position when the carriage is moved forwardly on its return motion but without exerting undue wear Vfriction between the levers andthe track .on the rearward movement of the carriage, a spring 26 may be provided interengaging the bracket 24 and the lever 22 to normally exert a, force tending to move the lever 22 to its shifted position. The strength of the spring 26 may be selected in conformity with the amount of friction which is required between the free ends of the lever and the track I1, to insure the shifting operation against the force of the springs2l surrounding the shafts I3 and I 4.

Stop pins 21 and 28 may be provided on the bracket 24 to limit the swinging movement of the lever 22 from its normal position as shown in Fig. 2, to its shifted position as shown in Fig. 4.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided a carriage mounting which will readily permit the lateral shifting of the carriage from a position disposing the edge of the carriage relatively close to the plane of movement of the saw blade, as the carriage is moved toward the saw blade making a cut into a shifted position spacing the edge of the carriage away from the saw blade when the carriage is moved in a direction to return a work piece past the blade preparatory to making another cut. It should be notedparticularly that the shifting of the carriage into spaced relation relative to the saw blade, will occur instantly upon starting of the return movement of the carriage, no matter at what point along the path of movement of the carriage the return motion is started. Also, that the shifting of the carriage back toward the saw blade will occur instantly upon the re-starting of the carriage in its forward or cut performing operation again, irrespective of at what point along the path of movement of the carriage' such re-starting takes place. Thus, the operationV of the shifting mechanism is wholly independent of anyconscious operation on the part of the operator.

With the carriage constructed in accordance with my invention, the danger of a work piece inadvertently striking the saw blade upon return movement of the carriage is materially reduced, and the safety lof operation of band saws is thereby greatly enhanced.

While I have illustrated the application of my invention particularly with reference to a band saw, it will be apparent that the same carriage operation could be readily adapted to circular saws, or to any other cutting tools in which the work piece is carried upon a carriage adapted to travel along a track toward and away from the blade.

While I have shown and `described the preferred embodiment of the invention, I do not desire to be limited to any of the details illustrated or described herein except as deiined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A cutting machine comprising a cutting blade having a fixed location, a carriage for supporting a workpiece and movable on a selected path past the cutting blade, wheels on the carriage having a relative motion with respect to the carriage along a line at a large angle to the selected path, resilient means normally urging the table toward the cutter blade, a member extending parallel to the selected path, a lever pivoted to the carriage and having a length greater than the shortest distance from its pivot to the member, and resilient means urging the lever into contact with the member, whereby movement of the carriage in one direction along the path will cause the lever to drag against the member at an acute angle, and movement of the carriage in the other direction along the path will cause the lever to frictionally engage the member and move the carriage along the line of the relative motion of the wheels.

2. A cutting machine Icomprising a cutting blade having a fixed location, parallel tracks disposed adjacent to the blade, a platform, shafts on the platform disposed at right angles to the tracks, wheels disposed on the shafts for rotation and sliding thereon and adapted to engage the tracks for movement of the platform therealong, resilient means for maintaining the wheels in a normal position along the shafts but permitting sliding of the wheels on the shaft to shift the carriage away from the blade, a pivot on the platform, a lever secured to the pivot and greater in length than the shortest distance from the pivot to an adjacent track, resilient means urging the lever into frictional engagement with the adjoining track so that the engaging end is disposed toward the blade, and stops for limiting the rotation of the lever in one direction to a position substantially perpendicular to the track that it engages, whereby lreverse movement of the carriage will lcause the lever to frictionally engage the track to rotate against its stop and thereby shift the carriage relative to its wheels so that the blade may be cleared, and upon forward movement the lever will rotate to a normal position and the resilient wheel means will return the wheels to a normal position on the shafts.

3. A cutting machine comprising a cutting blade having a xed location, parallel tracks disposed adjacent and to one side of the plane of the blade, a platform mounted for reciprocation on the tracks, shafts on the platform disposed vat right angles to the tracks, wheels disposed on the shafts for rotation and sliding movements thereon and adapted to engage the tracks for movement of the platform therealong, resilient means for urging the wheels axially in a normal position along the shafts, pivots xedly located on the platform, parallel equal length levers secured to the pivots and greater in length than the shortest distance from either pivot to an adjacent track, additional resilient means of substantially less strength than the first resilient means for urging the levers in the same direction into engagement with the adjacent track, stops fixed on the platform for limiting the rotation of the levers in one direction to a position substantially perpendicular to the track that it engages to space the platform away from the knife plane when the platform is moved in one direction, and additional stops Xed -on the platform to prevent the platform from being moved by the first resilient means into the cutting plane when the platform is moved in the opposite direction.

WILLIAM LASAR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,793,461 Biro Feb. 24, 1931 2,075,545 Reussenzehn Mar. 30, 1937 2,075,554 Strachan Mar. 30, 1937 2,305,177 Litty Dec. 15, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 28,113 Great Britain Mar. 13, 1913 

